Prosecutors said the trial should last eight weeks. Jury selection began Monday morning and became a difficult task. Even the judge presiding over the case said there was no way to get a jury out of the group in court Monday. Some potential jurors were excused after claiming their employers would not pay them for being off their jobs for two months. Jury selection finished Tuesday and opening arguments were scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Shielding themselves from the rain and reporters, some of the accused remained silent as they left federal court. Correctional Officers Clarissa Clayton, Riccole Hall, Ashley Newton, Travis Paylor, Michelle Ricks; jail worker Michelle McNair; and inmates Joseph Young and Russell Carrington are facing racketeering and drug charges.

The eight defendants are the last of 44 charged in the conspiracy involving correctional officers, inmates and several others with Black Guerrilla Family gang ties. Prosecutors said the group plotted to smuggle drugs, cellphones and other contraband into the Baltimore jail and other corrections facilities.

Prosecutors said the ring also involved sex between inmates and guards, which led to four officers becoming pregnant by Tavon White, the convicted leader of the jailhouse gang.

Thirty-four of the 44 defendants have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy, including 21 correctional officers.

Defense attorney Kevin McCants said the evidence against his client, Clarissa Clayton, is "very weak."

"She was fired for a fight that occurred with her boyfriend outside of the jail. She was thrown into the racketeering charges, not charged with money laundering, based on the fact there was so much going on with other officers," McCants said.

McCants said he believes a jury will find her not guilty.

"There is no tangible evidence against her. It's questioning of inmates about what correctional officers may or may not have done. I fully expect her to be vindicated," McCants said.

He said the toughest challenge will be the overspill of evidence, since most of the more than 40 people indicted have pleaded guilty.